LAUSD, other California school districts use cafeteria funds meant for poor to cover other expenses, report says

Squeezed by historic funding shortfalls, school districts across the state in recent years have been illegally dipping into cafeteria funds meant to provide meals to poor students to pay other school expenses, according to a report released Wednesday by a state department.

The strongly worded report by the California Senate Office of Oversight and Outcomes identified the Los Angeles Unified School District as the biggest offender. LAUSD was among eight school districts across the state ordered to repay a total of $170 million to student meal programs.

"Perhaps more troubling, department officials candidly acknowledge they have no idea how big the problem may be and fear they may have uncovered only a hint of the ongoing abuse," the report states.

About $158 million of the $170 million debt belongs to LAUSD, which allegedly shifted money from the cafeteria fund to pay for expenses such as lawn sprinklers and the salaries of employees at the district's television station.

The report states that none of the school districts mentioned is accused of embezzling money for personal profit. But the redistribution of dollars to other district departments has compromised the quality of the lunchtime period for tens of thousands of low-income students across the state, the investigation found.

"Cost-saving shortcuts included serving processed rather than fresh foods, short lunch periods, rundown cafeterias and insufficient staff to properly plan and manage an optimum food service operation," the report states.

Still, the state office cites instances of outright fraud. Perhaps most egregiously, the Oxnard Union High School District inflated its subsidized meal counts, thereby claiming millions of dollars in state and federal reimbursements to which it was not entitled, the report states. The district - which consists of six high schools - was ordered to repay the meal programs $5.6 million. The last installment was made last year.

Also prominently named in the report are school districts in Baldwin Park, Santa Ana, San Diego, San Francisco and Compton. The Centinela Valley high school district serving Lawndale and Hawthorne is also named, though officials there say they were dinged for a technicality and are being unfairly lumped in with the others.

The investigation found that lax oversight of the cafeteria funds by state regulators meant that violations were reported by whistle-blowers who headed up the food services departments. These cafeteria directors often notified authorities at the risk of their jobs, and occasionally at the expense of them.